River Bank Primary School

River Bank Primary School has shown significant improvement since its previous inspection, moving from 'requires improvement' to 'good' across all inspected areas. Pupils express happiness and a sense of belonging, largely due to the school's supportive environment and commitment to their personal development. The school's curriculum is tailored to meet the diverse backgrounds of its pupils, ensuring that those who speak English as an additional language receive the support they need. Although staff maintain high expectations and foster respectful relationships among pupils, there remain some challenges in adequately challenging the most capable students in certain subjects.

Strengths

• Strong phonics teaching helps pupils read with confidence
• Curriculum is well-planned to consider pupils’ backgrounds and needs
• Pupils have positive attitudes and enjoy their lessons
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities
• High expectations for pupil behavior and engagement

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, the most able pupils are not sufficiently challenged
• Curriculum plans for music and modern foreign languages need improvement
• Subject-specific vocabulary overload in science and geography hinders understanding

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at River Bank Primary School attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.0% of pupils at River Bank Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 River Bank Primary School had 23.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.3% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 14.5% of pupils at River Bank Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 River Bank Primary School received £6,120 and spent £5,427 for each of its 769 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £874,000 (£1,137 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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What is River Bank Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for River Bank Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was River Bank Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

River Bank Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does River Bank Primary School have?

River Bank Primary School has 793 pupils on roll.

What age range does River Bank Primary School cover?

River Bank Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are River Bank Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 78% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is River Bank Primary School?

River Bank Primary School is at Bath Road, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU3 1ES.